Fabulous reads – Debut YA novel sparks interest

We Hunt the Flame, Hafsah Faizal, Pan Macmillan ISBN: 9781529034097

I LOVE fantasy, thus had high hopes for Hafsah Faizal’s debut book, who is the female American Muslim author behind this young adult (YA) series.

Faizal’s magical tale is based in the fictional world of Arawiya and features Zafira, a young woman who, miraculously, seems to be the only person able to safely traverse the deadly Arz which is slowly engulfing her world.

Out of desperation, she is forced to brave the cursed forest to hunt and feed her people. There is one catch, though. Due to the discrimination in her world, she is forced to disguise herself as a man while doing so.

Soon, she and a group of other people are roped together by a mysterious Silver Witch to retrieve a lost artifact from a dangerous island that could free their world.

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There was so much potential here but there was very little novelty. It was pretty much a mix and match of many other popular fantasy tropes. The only fresh element was the representation of the Arabic culture. This was a wonderful treat, but I feel like this could also have been improved on as it felt, at times, as if the references were just an afterthought.

The sprinkling of Arabic words were also a catch 22 for me. Part of me loved the incorporation, as it added to the authenticity but it was slightly annoying to have to constantly flip to the glossary.

There were also some minor questionable potholes in the storyline, but nothing major to make me go “I can’t deal”. For example, magic is said to have been stripped from the world, but some characters are still able to perform magic and the island is said to be treacherous and littered with savage monsters, however, for the most part the monsters seem to leave the fearless group alone and there are only a few violent encounters.

While some of the characters’ motivations, behaviours and romances felt slightly forced, overall Faizal’s characters were relatable and endearing. They truly made the story for me.

In the end, there were some poignant, but predicable, “plot twists”. It is a YA novel after all. This book was truly enjoyable and I would comfortably give it a solid three out of five stars.

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